DOSE:

smoked

Datura

(seeds)

BODY WEIGHT:

145 lb

The dosages and body weight are approximations of what my friend took. I have not yet tried Datura, though I do plan too. My friend, we will call her Alice (heh heh) smoked these after finding them outside. She had read a little about Jimsom and decided to try it. I did not know she was doing this until hours later, when I recieved a frantic call from her boyfriend. He had to work that night and had already been up all night with her. So, Me to the Rescue.

Now as the observer rather than the participant, I will tell you several things.

**Pre-trip- If possible- both of you baby proof the house before the participant doses. Hide things like knives and scissors ( best is to put em in a box, remove them from the house by locking them in a vehicle, and hide those car keys) Move ill situated coffee tables and breakable objects to places out of the reach of waving arms. Lock doors to rooms from the inside if they seem hazardous (you can always pry them open later with a credit card). Planning is key.

Talk to your friend and get any concerns out in the open, but make sure that she is in a peaceful and amiable state of mind before dosing. Discuss the doses themselves. Start with a small dose. Alice smoked the seeds but other methods include teas, resins and salves. Consult books on herbal shamanism and use internet resources to come up with a realistc dose. DO NOT LET THE PARTICIPANT TAKE MORE AFTER THEY DOSE!!! Because of Daturas sneaky nature- take the agreed upon SMALL dose and dont let them have any more- even if you think they are fine and they beg you. Hide any remaining stash and stick to your guns. They can always try it again another time at a SLIGHTLY increased dose, and depending on the manner of ingestion datura can take anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours to feel the affects. After the dose has been taken, get comfortable and try not to over-think it. Relax, watch TV or listen to music, let things run their course.

Some PHYSICAL things to watch for and/or address:

1. Watch their body temperature. They will feel hot too the touch. Try to make sure it doesnt get out of control. I doubt you will be able to get a thermometer in their mouth- but its something to bear in mind.
As a general rule with mind altering drugs, Showers help with some people, with some they dont. If you are worried about their body temperature, you can try to get them in the bath- but you must REMAIN with them the ENTIRE time. They could hurt themselves very easily. Razors, Tubs and Sinks, and many other bathroom objects, in addition to the likelihood of falling while on Jimsom, present a significant threat.

2. Blood pressure fluctuations. Try to keep them from doing any super active things. THe stiller you can keep them, the better. When I say still I mean calm, as tripping people have a tendancy to wander. You must follow them as they wander- because they will find mischief. I had to stop Alice from eating her little silver hair clasp at least 7 times. Also High-up windows, balconies and steps are best avoided, as well as public places.

3. PUSH FLUIDS. Water, gatorade and other re-hyrdators (such as the drinks they sell for children who are ill or dehydrated, like pedialyte) are all good choices. Some will guzzle. Alice wanted nothing to do with it so I had to bribe her and make her.

4. Lend a hand. Literally. Alice fell and tripped a lot, by the end of her trip she had some pretty crazy bruises. Try to hover, or keep them seated if they will stay seated, when they walk around, be ready to catch them at any given moment.

5. Err on the side of caution. Monitoring these things is important, and if you suspect overdose or real danger, call in the professionals. Dont be afraid to take them to a hospital- even if they made you promise you wouldnt. Wouldnt you rather have an angry friend than a dead one. Be SMART and know what VARIETY of Jimsom your friend has taken. (Their are several, and using the info here on EROWIDs you can identify which species you have found if harvesting from nature- if you buy it off the street or on the internet- make sure that person can tell you). This info plus the amount and time of the dose will be critical information in the event that health care professionals are needed.

Now That we have covered that aspect, which is of paramount importance, lets talk about what you can expect as a sitter in terms of behavior and helping to manage the mindset from the outside.

1. Dont argue. When people trip on Jimsom, their trip is reality. I was Alice's boyfriend, mother, other friends and a stranger at times. Go with it. Be who they say you are. Speak gently to them, and dont try reasoning with them.

2. Expect some combative moments- Alice got really pissed at me for following her around. I would gently explain it was because she was tripping and I didnt want her to hurt herself. She sometimes would refer to me in the third person (thinking she was talking to someone else) and say I was being a real B**ch and I was being a pain, etc. Dont take things personally. She also said she loved me and married me in a drunken wedding in Las Vegas. I asked her what we drank. Still, they can do dangerous things (like the aforementioned hairclips) so if they fight you when you try to intervene, a good technique is to distract them with something else while you remove the hazard.

3. DONT LIGHT THEIR SMOKES, OR GIVE THEM LIGHTERS! the 'phantom cigarette' is apparently pretty common with datura. IF they are puffing on an imaginary cigarette or an unlit one, leave it at that. If they notice its not lit or it isnt there, say something like 'imagine that.' But DONT let them have a lit one.. that could easily lead to them burning themselves or the house down, not to mention the affect on their blood pressure. (nicotine is stimulant)

4. Just when you think its over.... Datura trips last a LOT longer than acid trips or other kinds of trips, if you have other things to do or you are getting tired, make sure a WELL INFORMED replacement sitter is waiting in the wings. Ideally 2 or 3 sitters is a good precaution anyway, so that you can help each other out and take small breaks at times. Also, if combative behavior is severe, it make take several of you to restrain the participant.

A good rule of thumb with comedown is to keep them drinking fluids, and after 18 hours or so begin to encourage eating and sleeping. When you are confident in their lucidity for a bare minimum of 3 hours while conscious, then it is most likely safe to let them be alone. (I make no guarantees about these timelines, as it will vary with different people and situations, but use good judgement when deciding they can safely be alone).

5. Activities are good. Alice and I like art, and while she tripped we painted and listened to music, and made a collage (we had pre-cut clippings from magazines, so no scissors, but gluesticks are pretty harmless =) This kept her sitting still and out of trouble for some time, though she would sporadically wander, she came back to the art, and showed definite interest for some time. This keeps them in a good frame of mind. If you sense they are having scary hallucinations, do what you can on the outside to reassure them and redirect what they may be experiencing by modifying external stimuli (brighter or dimmer lights *I dont reccommend total darkness*, music, tv, activites, etc).

Dont take being the sitter lightly- its very important to appropriate use of psychostimulants, (all of them, not just datura) and make note of what you observe in their behavior to tell them later, as they may not remember a lot of it.

I hope this helps give both sitters and users some ideas about how to responsibly experiment with Jimsom.

Exp Year: 2003	ExpID: 27296
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Oct 3, 2003	Views: 47,235
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Datura (15) : Small Group (2-9) (17), Second Hand Report (42), Guides / Sitters (39), Retrospective / Summary (11)